Postby admin » Fri Mar 23, 2007 3:21 pm
Hi Miles,
In the repair of old pieces, take special care to see if there are any soft solder (lead based) repairs. Any trace of soft solder has to be removed completely or it will chemically react with the hard solder under the high heat required. The result can be catastrophic, can eat holes right through the silver.
As Doos mentioned, tight joints are key, must be a lot of surface contact, hard solder will not work as a filler.
The smallest and handiest reference I've found is "The Jeweler's Bench Reference" by Harold O'Conner. A ton of useful info in a 65 page pocket sized notebook.
Regards, Tom
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